Under the leadership of Artistic Director Paulette Haupt, each work will undergo the O’Neill’s signature development process, employing acclaimed professional actors, directors, and music directors in an intensive series of rehearsals, discussions, and public readings. 167 music theater works were received through the O’Neill’s open submissions process, which allows any writer or composer to submit regardless of agent representation. The process utilizes readers from around the country to evaluate and recommend promising projects.

Since its founding in 1978, the National Music Theater Conference (NMTC) has developed and presented more than 100 musical works, including early works of award-winning writers and composers such as Kirsten Childs, Tan Dun, Andrew Lippa, Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater, Paul Oakley Stovall, and Jeannine Tesori. Joe Masteroff and Edward Thomas’ Desire Under the Elms (2003 Grammy nominee) was the first work to be developed at the Conference in 1978, and Arthur Kopit, Mario Fratti and Maury Yeston’s Nine, developed at the O’Neill in 1979, won Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Score in 1982, and for Best Revival of a Musical in 2003; Jeff Whitty, Robert Lopez, and Jeff Marx’s Avenue Q, developed at the O’Neill in 2002, won three Tony Awards in 2004, including Best Musical. In the Heights, a 2005 NMTC project, received the Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Musical when it played off-Broadway in 2007, and four 2008 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Numerous other works from the Conference have received productions and acclaim worldwide.

National Music Theater Conference Artistic Director Paulette Haupt said, “The seven creative artists selected for our 35th annual Conference represent a broad diversity of compositional and storytelling tapestries. Following an intense evaluation and review process of the 167 projects submitted this year through our open submission policy, these four works were chosen based on the creators’ extraordinary individual skills, a unified collaborative point of view, and their readiness to see and hear their words and music come alive in front of an audience.”

The O’Neill’s Executive Director, Preston Whiteway, remarked, “I’m so pleased to welcome these four new works and their creators to the magic of the O’Neill this summer. By developing four works once more this summer, the O’Neill is expanding the opportunities available to aspiring and career lyricists, librettists, and composers – traditionally we only have had the resources to develop three pieces. I commend our funders and Paulette Haupt, Artistic Director, for finding a way to expand our programming and opportunities for writers. These goals are the core of the O’Neill’s mission. I look forward to an exciting 2012 season.”

The Conference runs from June 20 through July 13 on the O’Neill’s campus in Waterford, Connecticut. Box Office (860-443-1238) and online ticket sales begin Wednesday, June 6; advance ticket sales are available to O’Neill Members beginning Wednesday, May 16. Schedules are subject to change.

For further information, call the O’Neill at 860-443-5378, email theaterlives@theoneill.org, or visitwww.theoneill.org.